Disney X Final Fantasy
by Yakuzaman5
Summary: Disney and Final Fantasy cross over in a more meaningful way.
1. Chapter 1

It was much too big to be called a sword, Mulan liked to think. The blonde man cut through their enemies with ease, slicing them into pieces with a single stroke. No matter how thick the armor or powerful the Heartless, he struck them down with a grace and precision that was unmatched throughout the entire army.

He was not Chinese, nor was he a Hun. He ignored all questions of his past. If he were anyone else the Captain would have long ago asked him to leave. But he was simply too great of a soldier. He often cut down dozens of enemies all on his own, and could carry the tide of battle on himself.

Mulan envied him. He was everything she strove to be. If she were half as strong as him, she would easily be able to win over Shang's trust. She found herself watching him a lot during meals and during training, desperately trying to discover the secret to his strength.

He didn't talk much. He sat by himself, his green eyes closed, his massive sword lying next to him. His exotic yellow hair was spiky and pointed in all directions. He looked and dressed so strangely, anyone would have picked him out of the crowd.

She wondered who he was. Who he was really. Everyone did. But no one had ever gotten an answer out of him.

One day she found herself coming home from taking a bath. As usual she found herself taking an out of the way route back to the camp, avoiding the usual traffic. The others would be along soon. To her surprise she came across Cloud walking the other way.

They stared at each other. Mulan horrified, Cloud impassive.

"Ping." He said formally, her eyes flickering across her untied hair. He said nothing more, but in that moment Mulan was sure. He was well aware of her secret.

He said nothing of it to the Captain, or to the others. But she began to notice his eyes meeting hers more often than they had in the past. She tried not to let the idea excite her.

She wondered what he thought of her, hiding herself in this way among the army. How she fought alongside them and trained with them in secret. She wondered if he thought her odd.

"A Girl worth fighting for would be something, huh Cloud?"

Mulan found herself turning around to find a man nudging Cloud, winking. Cloud looked away.

"Yeah." He said, his voice soft. "It would."

"Have anyone like that Cloud?"

"I did." He said, his voice quiet. "Once." He sounded depressed. He bent down, almost sentimentally, and pulled up a flower. Mulan stared at it, noting the tenderness in his expression. The woman had died.

She found herself longing to know more.

"Cloud." She said, as they passed by a group of maidens in the fields. They looked up at them as they passed, and giggled amongst themselves, many of them staring straight at Cloud. "Who was she?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Did you love her?"

He stared at her. "No."

It was such a surprising thing to hear that the conversation ended right then. She backed off, refusing to continue to satiate her own curiosity.

That very night he was the one to approach her.

"Ping." He said, standing over her somewhat awkwardly. "I wanted to speak with you."

"About what?"

"I wanted to apologize." He said bluntly. "I don't want to alienate you. You're a good soldier."

It was a very stiffly given compliment. She wondered whether he was being genuine or simply trying to make her feel better about herself.

"It's alright." She said, her voice quiet. "I can understand that you may not want to talk about it." She paused. "There are many things that I myself don't want to talk about."

"Your real name?"

She flinched a little, but then relaxed. It was not accusatory. "Fa Mulan."

"So you are the daughter, not a son."

"My father had no sons." She told him plainly. "He was asked to come to war, but was not in good health. I came in his stead."

"Did he send you?"

She paused, wondering whether to be honest with him. "No. I came of my own volition."

"I thought not."

He fell silent. Mulan did not know how to continue the conversation either.

"Do you want to tell me about her?" She asked, almost a little reluctantly. Cloud did not answer right away.

"She was special." He said, at last. "And now she has returned to the planet."

Returned to the Planet… the peculiar way that Cloud referred to death. She had been right, after all.

"Did you love her?"

"No." He said. "I did not lie to you. But she was special all the same. She was someone that I wanted to protect."

"Like a bodyguard?"

She was surprised when he smirked. "Exactly like that." He said, sounding amused.

The conversation faded into silence again. Mulan stared at him, taking in all of his facial features and tried to read him. Once more she came up empty.

"There is a girl I love." Cloud murmured, so quietly that Mulan could barely hear. "She is walking the Earth trying to search for me. But I- I simply cannot find it in me to marry her." He gave her a look. "You remind me of her."

Her heart jumped. "How so?"

"You both have incredible strength of mind and character." He told her. "No matter what happens, Fa Mulan. I want you to stay true to yourself. Stay true to your values, and someday all of China will know your name. You are a warrior because you choose to be one. Never forgot that."

He left her sitting there speechless. Her chest seized up and she almost felt like crying. To be acknowledged in such a way by such a great warrior made her feel happier than she had been in a very long time.

And best of all, was that wonderful freeing feeling of no longer being alone.


	2. Chapter 2

_This story features Terra from Final Fantasy VI, not the poser from Birth By Sleep._

Terra sat in the chair in Belle's room, hands folded across her lap, as she stared at the other room sobbing on the chair. She felt awkward and uneasy, but did not quite understand why. She didn't understand much of anything. Bursts of feeling would sometimes come across her in waves, but she did not know what to make of them.

She watched her

_Friend…? _

Lean her head against the bed, lines of water running down her eyes. Terra had read about crying, and understood it to mean something bad.

Terra felt uncertain of what to do, so she merely sat and stared. She tried to rationalize the action in her mind, tried to thoroughly understand the reason for it. But she drew nothing more than a complete blank.

"Dear…"

Terra stared down at Mrs. Potts, who was nudging her ankle with her spout.

"Yes?"

"Let's leave Belle alone for tonight.?"

"But she said that we would read together again tonight."

Terra had arrived at the Castle of the Beast several weeks ago. Alone, tired, and hungry. Belle had immediately taken her in and cleaned her up. At first the girl had thought Terra to have been stricken insane by the conditions of traveling, as she had. She had no understanding of common courtesy or even human emotion.

Despite that, however, Belle had taken it upon herself to look after her. She had introduced her to her own personal library and had begun introducing her to books. Terra, who had only ever read signs on the road, struggled greatly with more complex literature.

Despite her difficulties, experiencing the world through someone else's eyes was enlightening. She know had a vague understanding of how people reacted under extreme stress and pain. She understood the idea of joy, of happiness, of love, of anger. She simply did not feel it herself, that was all.

"Belle isn't feeling well. Let's leave her alone, alright?"

Mrs. Potts was polite, yet firm. Terra stood up, let her arms fall to her side, and then almost robotically made her way to the door. She opened it, casting one last considering look back out at Belle, and then stepped out into the hall.

Mrs. Potts hopped out after her as the door shut behind them.

"Will she get better?" Terra asked her. Mrs. Potts bent her spout at her and seemed to smile.

"I'm sure it will all work out." She said. "It always does."

"I hope so." Terra said.

"You're a good girl." Mrs. Potts said affectionately. "Why don't you try reading on your own tonight?"

She had tried once before and had not found it nearly as interesting as she had with Belle. Belle had insisted that it got easier with time, but Terra was not so sure. She couldn't even do something as simple as crying. What if she couldn't read, either?

Despite her reluctance, she stepped down to the library on her own, her green hair billowing down her back. The Castle was dark and dreary whenever its servants were not anywhere near. There were, however, no Heartless. A fact that Terra was grateful for.

When she stepped into the library a tall, cloaked figure stood among the books. She recognized him immediately as the beast. He whirled on her, his eyes blazing.

"Belle-?"

His face turned to a snarl as he saw that it wasn't her. "You?"

Terra said nothing. She stood impassively in between the rows of books, not a trace of fear on her face as the Beast stalked up to her, his teeth bared.

"Ever since you arrived I have been plagued by these visions." He said. "Do you know the Man in Black?"

The Man in Black? She knew nothing. She told him so.

"You lie." He scoffed. "You are tearing Belle and I apart."

He looked severely agitated, and aggressive. Terra vaguely wondered whether she would have to fight him. But before she could decide he stalked past her, out of the open door, slamming it behind him.

She sat and read for an half an hour or so. She was not enjoying it. She found the characters and situations unrelatable. She had never attended birthday parties or turned invisible in front of her family. She didn't even have a family.

If only there was a story about a girl that felt nothing at all. Then maybe she could understand it, all on her own.

She sat up in her chair. An idea had just come to her. She perused the shelves, her eyes alight with a determined fire. She herself felt nothing, nothing at all. But those around her did indeed.

Half an hour later she stepped out of the library, a book tucked under her arm, as she stepped down the hallway to Belle's room. There was no one around. She pushed the door open and stepped inside. Belle was still crying, her head planted face first into her bed. She had not noticed her come in.

Terra stepped forward, and pulled the chair out from her spot in the corner. It made a loud creaking sound as she dragged it along the floor. Belle looked up, surprised, as Terra placed the chair in front of the bed, directly across from her, and sat down in front of her, the small book in her lap.

"The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." Terra intoned, with no emotion, but firmness and clarity. And then she opened the book and began to read.

She struggled with many of the words. They seemed somewhat archaic and did not match her own speech, and the book was a great deal more complicated than the picture books she had been practicing with. Despite that, she plowed onward doggedly, through the entire first chapter.

Terra stopped, pausing to clear her throat, as her eyes met Belle's. She was staring at her with a kind of abrupt fascination. She was not crying at all.

"What is it?" Terra asked, suddenly feeling somewhat self-concious. Bella looked surprised for a moment, before smiling radiantly at her.

"Terra, you just did something nice."

And in that moment, Terra finally understood happiness. She felt it herself.


End file.
